Hi, I am chinese and studying in an American high school. English is my second language but I can easily read articles without a lot of sophisticated vocabs. I will become a junior next year and I wonder if I should also take ap us history? Not really a big fan of history, but is it BETTER for applying university when I take more ap classes?
Other ap class Im gonna take:
Ap bio
Ap calc ab
Ap studio art
Ap computer science
No.
There’s no need to take every AP course offered. It’s not going to help you get into colleges. And why torture yourself.
Just take the APs that really genuinely interest you. Don’t try to game the system. There’s no huge strategy. One AP more or less isn’t going to make you stand out to an Ivy.
Colleges want to see who you are as a person. See if you can find things that genuinely interest YOU istead of try to figure out: what does a college want?
Ask yourself: what do I want?
They want interesting, cool, striving people. Not the Best AP Test TAker.
In China, what’s valued is how well you take those gaokaos. That mentality only goes so far in the US. Schools want to see a high score on your SAT/ACT test and high grades. They want to see enough AP or advanced classes to show that you can handle college work. After that, they want to see who you are inside. (not who your parents tell you you are). If you allow your parents to tell you that you are a test-taking genius and that’s who you are, you will be a cookie cutter kid who looks like all of the other test-taking geniuses out there, with test-pushing parents.
Believe me there are an army of test-taking geniuses applying for college.
See if you can find a passion. something that you love to do. You personally. It doesn’t matter if its flower arranging or if it’s helping blind people, social protest, working in a diner, or auto mechanics. Find a passion, an interest, in or out of school and pursue that rather than taking an AP class that you think you should take but don’t really want to take.
It depends. If you are in CA and plan on applying to the UC schools, you should take as many AP courses as you can possibly cram into your schedule. They are all about GPA. And it needs to be heavily weighted with lots of AP classes.
Yes Im in CA
I think Im gonna take Business and Eco as major in university. And I also love art, thats why I take ap art.
Have you taken any other USH classes before? Something to consider is that your classmates have probably all grown up in the US and taken USH before so it will probably be a little easier for them even without the ESL thing. I would take honors if that’s an option.
I could be wrong but I think UCs calculate a max of 8 AP/UC Honors classes into the UC GPA, so if you have 8 it wouldn’t make a difference if you took one more.
I’m a junior taking APUSH this year. I think it depends on your grasp of the English language. APUSH involves reading a lot of primary sources, which contain not just sophisticated vocab, but outdated phrases/jargon as well. Then there’s also tests and the AP exam (if you’re planning on taking it), where you’ll have to write timed essays. I’m sure you write great essays, but doing it under pressure is another thing. I noticed you’re not taking an AP English class. If you can manage AP English, then you should be fine, but if not, perhaps you should reconsider. I also recommend you speak with your current history or English teacher, and ask for their opinion.
@Dustyfeathers offers great advice. Sometimes I feel like I should be taking more APs, but ultimately, don’t take a class just to impress a college. Follow your interests, not those of colleges! Best of luck. 
Talk with the APUSH teacher. See if they would be willing to accommodate you (if you’re willing to put in work) and discuss any concerns about if you could be successful. We have a few students who speak English as a second (or third) language in our class. APUSH is a lot more work for them. Coming to America later in life, some facts that most know already will not be familiar to you. Assigned readings will take you longer and you might have to attend tutoring on your own time to master the essays.
I suggest reading and writing as much as you can starting now. Timing, comprehension, and coherency will be a huge issue for you on multiple choice and/or essays.
@notveryzen : actually the number of AP’s counted for UC 's is 8. Having more is only marginally helpful. Choosing them well is thus important.
@Suzy2019 : I don’t think you should take APUSH. It’s not necessary, it’ll put you at a disadvantage (due to the language and the fact all your classmates had American history in elementary and middle school) , and it’ll take time away from your other classes. However if you’re keen on showing you can handle an AP history class, you could plan to take AP World History senior year.
@MYOS1634 the 8 semester cap doesn’t apply to UCB or UCLA. Average GPA is usually north of 4.4 which requires a lot of AP and honors classes.
Yes, but it’s still a good gauge. Even at privates, the law of diminishing returns kicks in at 8. If you’re applying to UCB or UCLA I would imagine you have one AP English, one AP math, one or two AP science, one or two or three AP social science, one AP foreign language, perhaps two or three AP 'electives ’ or non core classes. That’s 8-10. You’ve demonstrated you can handle the work.
Other factors kick in after that.